CHAPTER FOUR: A BLIND DATE

JESSIE

It was only when I got out of the elevator that I realised this was a hotel. Stephen had brought me to one of the hotels owned by his family. 

Why would he do that? Anyone could see us and get the wrong idea. 

I stood on the kerb trying to get a taxi when I heard a shrill, aggravating voice. 

“Jessie?” 

I didn't need to turn around to know who it was. I had heard that voice one too many times to miss it. I took a sharp breath and turned to him. 

On his arms, Freya is draped, her fake eyelashes blinking too rapidly in discomfort. I do not smile even though I am tempted to. 

“What?’ I snapped at him, and he looked taken aback. 

“What are you doing here?” he asked. I crossed my hand over my stomach and leaned in. 

“What does that have to do with you?” 

“Did they even let you in?” Freya’s voice, which sounded like someone was scraping a metallic surface with a couple of nails, made my ears bleed as I listened. “This place is a seven-star hotel; peasants like you aren’t allowed in.” 

“And yet you can’t get in.” My voice was cold, and my nose was in the air. 

I had always thought it was ridiculous to bully others with wealth, but both of them asked for it, and I was no longer holding back. If they wanted it, then they shall get it. 

“You…I…how dare you?” She stuttered, and I tried my best to hide my snicker. “Allen, are you going to allow her to talk to me like that?” 

Allen stepped forward, but I stopped him with a small hand lift. “Please don’t get any closer; I don’t want to get contaminated with whatever disease it is that you have.” 

His mouth opened and closed several times, trying to find the right words. I had never felt so satisfied at a word exchange before, and I tried my best to hide my smile. 

“I am going to make sure you regret this,” he snapped, obviously shocked I could treat him that way. 

“Be my guest then.” I raised my finger to my face and looked at them while yawning so loudly that it made their faces contort. 

I flashed a smile at them. A car honked behind me, and I let out a sigh of relief that my cab was here already. I didn't wait for their words before I stepped down and got in. 

They stood side by side watching me go until I was out of sight. 

“Good riddance to bad rubbish.” 

The Moore name resounded from the gate, feeling like a prison I had to escape. I had only come to live with the Moore name at eighteen. I had been swapped at the hospital at birth, and since then, I was raised poor. 

When fate decided it was time for me to be favoured, I was found by my birth mom, who happened to be one of the richest women in the country. She brought me back home. 

“I will only have my blood take over the company I spent years building,” she remarked the first time she brought me home. “So learn so you can take over the company.” 

I didn't need any extra explanation to know what she meant. Tiffany was the girl who was swapped with me at birth; after living a luxurious life, she couldn't go back to her birth family, and my mother didn't mind having her around. 

The coldness of the air in the mansion was the reason I had tried to escape that life before and accepted Allen. Everything about this place reminded me of how I didn't fit and what my background has always been. 

The walls were lined with artworks she had gotten from auctions for millions. Nothing personal to make this place feel like a home. 

A maid led me through the cold house to the lounge, where both my mother, Lauren, and sister, Tiffany, were sitting, chatting happily and loudly. 

The room fell silent as soon as I stepped in. I dragged my eyes between both of them and waited for them to speak first. 

“I always told you that Allen Walker was not good for you,” Lauren said immediately. 

How could he call her my mother when she wasn't even worried about how I felt? All she saw me as was a tool to expand the company as she willed. 

“Oh, Mom, don’t be too hard on her,” Tiffany said, her mouth slightly open. Her eyes ran up and down my body as if she were assessing me. “She must be heartbroken,” she added. 

“Oh, Tif, you are always so kind to your sister,” Lauren continued. “I wish everyone could be like you,” she added under her breath, but audibly enough for me to hear. 

She turned to her, her eyes softening and her lips quivering up only slightly. Lauren had always thought she was kind to both daughters, but even a blind man could see the bias for the daughter she spent her life raising. 

I was just an intruder who happened to share blood with her. She turned to me, and her eyes felt icy; the temperature of the room dropped so greatly that I almost asked for a jacket. 

“You must find a suitable marriage partner,” she declared.

How could she ask me to find another man when one had brutally broken my heart just a few hours ago? Did she even care about me at all? 

“But Mom?” Tiffany began in a low voice. Her eyes ran over me this time, settling on my curves and stomach before she raised them slightly as if she were concerned. “How is she expected to find anyone looking like this?” 

A scoff escaped my mouth. She didn't need to overexplain herself for me to understand she was taking a jab at my weight. I had been putting up with her for the sake of peace, but she had been trying to put me down with every chance she got. 

“Someone like me? “I don’t see anything wrong with me,” I retorted, holding the same tone she had used. 

“Jessie, you should listen more to your sister and lose some weight,” Lauren said after throwing me a very dirty look. “I mean, you don’t want to create a bad image around the company.” 

“I am not fat; my last check-up showed that I was perfectly healthy, so you don’t need to worry about that.” 

Her face fell into a frown, wrinkles taking over her forehead. She didn't seem to agree with me, and I couldn't tell why she was so obsessed with getting me skinny, even if I didn't need to be. 

I opened my mouth to tell her to stick the company down where the sun doesn't shine, but she beat me to speak. She raised her nose in the air and changed the topic. 

“I have arranged a blind date for you tomorrow,” she announced. “Be at the Alter Restaurant tomorrow by five.” 

She got up, and Tiffany did as well. 

“Don’t mess it up. This is our chance to grow the company. I am counting on you.” 

Both of them strolled out of the room, leaving me alone, thinking about my life and how I ended up there. My mind briefly trailed to Stephen, and a smile climbed to my face. I suddenly caught myself and shook my head. 

“Jess? What the hell are you thinking?”